Assessment of some Hepatic Enzyme activities in adult rabbits chronically fed crude <i>Garcinia Kola</i>

Abstract

Therapeutic potentials of Garcinia kola (G. kola) have been extensively documented and several researches have asserted its protective uniqueness against liver disorders/diseases. It is the aim of this study to assess the level of some enzyme involved in liver cellular integrity in rabbits chronically fed G. kola. To achieve this objective,  twenty-four rabbits of comparable weights were randomly divided into four groups; consisting of a control (group A) and test (group B: BT1, BT2 and BT3). For 6 weeks, the control rabbits were fed standard animal feed with water  given ad libitum, while doses of reconstituted G. kola powder (1200, 1500 and 1800mg G. kola per kg body mass) were administered daily by gavage to the respective test groups B aside from feed and water. At the end of the experiment, a dose depended significant increased in serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) activities was observed. On the other hand, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity was significantly reduced compared to control. These results suggest that G. kola may have some biochemical influences on the liver with chronic usage and as such a need for regulation of it ingestion.

Key words: Garcinia kola, Chronic, Crude, Liver, Male, Rabbits.